Laundry Bottle and Closure Design

The Opportunity

The customer was looking to upgrade the look of its laundry detergent brand. The original bottle design had a “boxy” look to it and the customer was looking to redesign the packaging so that it has more “dynamic” lines to more associate with the brand name. Additionally, there were complaints of bottles leaking in transport due to a poor seal between the spout and dosing cap. The customer had some ideas regarding the direction it wanted to go sent PTI a concept from which to begin the process.

In addition to the aesthetic requirements, the customer wanted the bottle to be easy-to-grip and strong enough to handle top-load requirements. PTI also was asked to modify the threads on the dosing closure in order to mitigate the leaking issue.

In addition, the closure had to be strippable off the mold. The challenge was finding the right design to allow for a strippable thread that would provide strong engagement with the bottle to create a leak-proof seal. PTI needed to simulate the blow molding process and determine what happens to the structural design when it is top loaded, with the largest containers being of the highest concern.

The Innovation

Finite-element analyses were done on the bottles to help optimize the design, as well as the wall thickness the bottle would require. A mold-flow analysis was also done on the closure to make sure the new design would not require excessive injection pressure. PTI suggested improvements that would enable the company to meet both its injection molding and top load challenges.

The Outcome

A refined design that met performance expectations and design specifications.